Researching the American South: Background Information

A major biographical dictionary of deceased individuals whose achievement, fame, or notoriety occurred while living in what is now the United States or who “directly influenced the course of American history.”

Note: When finished, please exit by clicking on the "LOGOUT" button at the top righthand corner of the screen. Please note that a maximum of five users may access this resource simultaneously.

Combines a rich array of historical and cultural information about the African American experience with selected primary documents, web sites, and maps. The material is compiled by Oxford University Press from their many reference works, such as Africana, Encyclopedia of African American History, various Oxford Companions, and the African American National Biography.

Points to places to find biographical information for over 5 million people, living and dead. Biography and Genealogy Master Index indexes various editions of over 700 biographical reference sources, both current and retrospective, that cover historical as well as contemporary figures. Examples of sources indexed would include many of the "Who's Who" indexes, a number of the "Oxford Companions," and the Dictionary of Literary Biography. A complete list of sources and editions is given in the appendix accompanying the documentation.

Provides libraries with a unique, growing collection of research materials for tracing family history and American culture. Beginning or professional genealogists can use this online library, with original page images for all documents. With over 25,000 books, the entire U.S. Federal Census, PERSI, and other expanding collections, HeritageQuest Online provides the chance to tap in to one of the largest collections of genealogy material in the country.

Offers a wealth of critical and biographical information about more than 120,000 authors from the Classical period to the present. It provides several hundred thousand full text journal articles and other critical essays, thousands of plot summaries and links to authoritative Web sites, over 100,000 author biographies, several thousand author portraits, and the Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature.

Provides biographies of over 1.5 million people of note, primarily in the United States. Some international coverage is also provided. It is the online counterpart of Marquis' renowned biographical dictionaries, such as Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in American Art, and Who's Who in American Politics.